Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Every once in a while, a death row inmate does manage to exit "out the back door," so to speak. Such was the case when Paula Cooper was released from Indiana's Rockville Correctional Facility on Monday.Cooper once held the dubious honor of being the youngest death row inmate in the country. At the age of 15, she and three other young girls brutally stabbed a 78-year-old woman to death during the course of a robbery. Cooper, who confessed to the crime, was convicted of murder and given the death penalty. Her three accomplices were given jail terms.Just two years later, though, Cooper's death sentence was overturned when a new law made it illegal to execute any person who was under the age of 16 at the time they committed their crime. Cooper was then given a 60-year sentence, but she was released early after serving only 28 years.

Emotions about the case have always run high, and will certainly continue to do so. Some people were incensed that a felon who committed such a terrible crime would have their death sentence commuted. Others complained about the fact that someone so young was given the death penalty in the first place. Cooper's sister said she hopes that people will now see Cooper as more than just a killer. Based on the mug shot above, that wish will likely be granted. After viewing this image, people will probably see Cooper as:

Friday, June 7, 2013

Sometimes bad things do happen to bad people; Richard Ramirez, the notorious serial killer known as the Night Stalker, died this morning while serving time on California's death row.Ramirez, a Satan-worshiping madman who was convicted of 13 murders and numerous rapes and assaults, had been on death row since 1989. But even though California has more death row inmates than any other state, the capital punishment system has been wrapped up in miles of red tape for years. There's no telling when--or even if--Ramirez would've actually been executed.Prison officials said Ramirez died of "natural causes," but some reports claim the Night Stalker died from hepatitis C, which might have been contracted before the killer was even arrested. Either way, the man who claimed to love Satan should be knocking on his door right about now.